Unnecessary Agony
by Ryou - slash - Bakura's Wench
Summary: When you know the truth, when you know that it was you who was responsible for the unwanted truth, knowing that you could've prevented it from happening.......what would you do? To others and to yourself? Ryou POV.
1. Boy with a Hopeless Fate

Me: Wow...I can't believe how long it took to actually finish this! It took me, like, forever and three quarters of a half a millenium

Seto: ...Even I couldn't figure out what you just said meant...

Me: ...Yeah, me neither ...But anyways, readers, this is my first...no, second fic, that I've uploaded on this lovely website of ours. I do not own Yu – Gi – Oh, or any of the characters in the show. And if I did own the show, you'd be able to tell because, first of all, there'd be almost no Tea, NO Serenity, ALL RYOU AND BAKURA AND MARIK AND YAMI MARIK AND NOAH AND JOEY AND...you get the point. On with the fic.

_**Innocent until proven Guilty**_

"AMANE!"

Ryou shouted out loud as he bolted upright from his bed.

Oh. It was just a dream. He was just dreaming. What he had just dreamed of his sister, Amane, didn't really happen.

(Quit trying to fool yourself, Ryou. It was not a dream. It was real.)

Ryou tensed up at the voice inside his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

Oh, how he dreaded that voice. He feared it. Whatever the voice was, he didn't like it one bit. All it brought was pain and agony to him. He wanted it to go away. But it wouldn't. No matter what he did, the voice would not go away! Why can't it just leave him alone for once!

(Because, my Ryou, I am you. And you are me. We are one whole. Whatever you do, I do.) A chuckle. (And whatever I do, you do.)

Ryou winced at that last sentence as tears formed up in his brown eyes and ran down his elegant face.

No. No, it wasn't true. It couldn't be true. Why? Why did everything have to happen? It wasn't fair!

"Please," he whispered out loud, more to himself, "just leave me alone. You've tormented me long enough. Just go away."

(Sorry. You're stuck with me.)

"No!" Ryou shouted before grabbing his pillow and throwing it as hard as he could across the bedroom.

_**How can I pretend that I don't see**_

_**What you hide so carelessly?**_

_**I saw her bleed**_

_**You heard me breath**_

"Stop it! Stop it! Just leave me alone! I don't want you here! Get out of my mind!"

All of Ryou's pain was now replaced with anger. Such anger.

He grabbed the millenium ring from around his neck, which he couldn't remember putting it on before going to bed, and threw it across the room as hard as he could, just as he had done his pillow. It hit against the mirror hanging against his wall near his door, smashing it to pieces.

A sudden dizziness began screwing around with Ryou's head at the sight of all the broken glass. Of it all falling against the ground. But this dizziness wasn't an ordinary dizziness. It was more like a flashback.

Amane's head getting smashed against the bathroom mirror.

In his "dizziness", Ryou rolled off of his bed and landed on the hard wooden floor. A mixture of a sob and a grunt escaped his lips.

"No..." he spoke softly through a broken voice, "It can't be true..."

(Oh, but it is.)

Frustrated, Ryou slapped a grip on the edge of his mattress to help him get on his feet.

"No! Stop it!" he nearly screamed, "You did it! Not me! It was all your fault! It's _your_ fault that my sister's dead!"

_**So I froze inside myself**_

_**And turned away**_

_**I must be dreaming**_

Silence. Except for Ryou's sobs. A sudden feeling was beginning to overcome Ryou. Something in which he had felt before, but had been forgotten. It was the feeling of fearlessness. For some reason, he was no longer afraid. He began to laugh out loud, not caring what the voice was thinking. He wiped his tears away.

"I know. I know what I can do. That's it. Something that you can't stop me from doing."

He ran out of his door and bolted downstairs to the living room where the cordless phone lay.

"I'm going to call Yugi. And I'm going to tell him what really happened and he's gonna take that dreaded ring away. And I won't ever have to hear you inside my head ever again! You're going to be out of my head and I'm going to be free to think whatever I want without anyone trying to make me think differantly!"

He picked up the phone and began dialing.

If Ryou wasn't so overcome by his fearlessness, he would've realized the huge mistake he had just made by saying what he had just said.

Before he could finish dialing the rest of Yugi's phone number, a sudden, unseen force blew him back, away from the phone, and against the wall. He yelped in surprise. Even though he had lost his footing, he hadn't realized that he was being held up by something until a few seconds later. When he looked up, what he saw wasn't what he expected. There was two deep, dark pools of crimson red staring right back at him. In these pools held bloodlust, sadist, heartlessness, cold-bloodeness. Evil. They were the two blood baths of a spirit who can never die.

_**We all live**_

_**We all die**_

_**That does not begin to justify you**_

Suddenly, all of Ryou's feelings of bravery, the last ounce of his own self-confidence, was stripped from him. Complete fear, fear of this spirit, came crashing down on him so hard, almost like a slap of reality. He then realized just what he was about to do.

He was going to call Yugi, the one person whom the spirit hates more than anything else in the world – well, second from Yami – and tell him that he killed Amane. Tell Yugi that he killed his own sister.

Well, Ryou knew that it was the spirit inside the millenium ring who mainly did it, but still. All Ryou did was sit there and watch it all happen. What could he do to stop the spirit? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Ryou found himself beginning to whimper.

"Oh, God. I'm sorry. I-I'm so sorry. I won't do it again. J-Just, please, d-d-d-don't hurt me. I-I wasn't really going to call Yugi."

_**It's not what it seems**_

_**Not what you think**_

_**No, I must be dreaming**_

"Face it, Ryou," the spirit spoke, still not taking his deadly gaze off of him, "your sister is dead. She's dead. She was killed. You killed her."

Ryou's eyes widened in horror. He began shaking his head back and forth.

"No. No. It's not true. It's not true. I didn't kill her. I didn't. In fact, she's not even dead." he grinned a little as he let out a small laugh, "Yeah, that's it. She's not dead. Amane's fine. She's...just not here at the moment. She's just out...getting that new Guns 'N' Roses C.D and she'll be back any minute now." he gasped, "I better get to bed before she catches me not sleeping."

He made an attempt to get back his own footing and go upstairs, but it was only then that he noticed that the spirit was holding him up against the wall by a grip on his neck. The spirit squeezed a little harder on his neck, giving Ryou enough room in his airpipe to breath but it was still difficult.

"Ryou," the spirit said with an icy calmness, " you have to face the reality of Amane. You are going to face it." he whispered the next sentence, the one thing that brought terror into Ryou's self, "You're a murderer. You killed her."

A sob came out of Ryou. No, it couldn't be true.

_**It's only in my mind**_

_**Not in real life**_

_**No, I must be dreaming**_

That night, Ryou lay in his bed, staring at the framed picture of Amane that sat on his dresser beside his bed, blankly, until the sun came up and his alarm clock went off at the seven o'clock hour; neither knowing, nor caring, that the spirit of the millenium ring was watching him with those two deep, crimson eyes.

The event that had occurred the previous night never left Ryou's mind. Not even during Mr. Cowan's boring lectures in social studies class. And it just so happened that Ryou had been the chosen one for his questioning.

"Tell me, Ryou, when did the first world war start and how long did it last until it ended?" Mr. Cowan asked him.

Ryou didn't even hear him. He just sat there, his head laying in the small bed that his arms had created. To everyone around him, he was in the classroom. In his own mind, it was a completely different story.

A look of impatience planted itself on Mr. Cowan's face.

"Ryou, when did World War I start and how long did it last until it ended?"

Still nothing from Ryou, not a single move.

"Ryou, answer my question this instant."

Nothing.

"Ryou!" the teacher yelled out as he slapped the textbook he was holding shut.

This definitely got Ryou's attention, but the only reaction that came out of him was a small jolt of surprise and a surprised and confused expression looking up at the the social studies teacher.

"What is it?" he asked innocently at the look of frustration and what seemed to be anger on his teacher.

"Ryou, you know the rules of this classroom. No daydreaming during class time. Go straight to that office. Now."

Not really caring if he was in trouble or not, Ryou quickly put his binder in his backpack and went to the office.

At lunch time, Ryou sat alone at his usual lunch table in the corner of the lunch room closest to one of the windows. His lunch tray was full of food, but, at this point in time, eating was the last thing that Ryou wanted to do. Anything but eating. He didn't even look at the food. All he did was stare out the window. Outside, the sun was shining down on the earth with a cloudless sky. The complete opposite of what Ryou was feeling.

He sighed sadly to himself before looking down on his tray and let his head rest on his hands shading his eyes from the sun and stopping everyone else from seeing what he was feeling, all the while holding back tears.

He was screaming inside! The secret that he held, the secret that the spirit inside the millenium ring had tried to hide, even though he knew that Ryou knew all along, was picking him apart! It was like something was eating away at his heart, at his insides. The pain! Oh, the pain was just too much! It had to stop. He wanted it to stop! Why couldn't it!

Mabye talking to someone would make it go away. Yeah, that's it! Someone whom he could trust, and someone who could trust him. Yugi! Yugi was the perfect person to talk to.

But where was he?

Ryou looked around the entire lunch room.

There he was! Sitting with Joey, Tristan, and Téa at the table near the stairs! Now, all he had to do was get up on his feet, walk up to them, sit down beside Yugi, and tell him that he needs to speak with him. Then Yugi will listen to everything he'll have to say and everything will be allright. All the pain will go away.

He only got up about four inches when a booming, fierce voice rang inside his head.

(Don't be an idiot, you fool!) It was the spirit. (You really think that Yugi will listen to you? _You, out of all people? _) Ryou nodded weakly a couple times in desperation. A chuckle was heard that sent shivers down his spine. (Ryou, there is no way in this pathetic little world that Yugi will listen to someone like you. Just look at him. He's happy. He's so happy with his friends and that damn pharoah by his side. He doesn't need you there if all you're going to do is break his happiness; If you're gonna lay your own burdens on his shoulders.)

Ryou blinked as he continued looking at Yugi's table. At Yugi and his friends.

The spirit was right. They were happy. Yugi was happy. And to tell him the truth of Amane would be to disrupt him and, perhaps, even sadden him. And that was something that Ryou didn't want to be responsible for.

But, if he couldn't tell Yugi, then _who_ could he talk to? Yugi was the absolute only person that he can tell. Everyone else would think he's crazy. Oh, wouldn't that be lovely.

"_Help, you gotta help me! There's a spirit inside this millenium ring that my father sent me from ancient Egypt who took over my body and killed my sister! Yeah, I was able to see everything as it happened, but there wasn't anything that I could do! Not even as I was frozen on the floor, holding my dieing sister in my arms!"_

At all these thoughts, Ryou quickly threw away his food, grabbed his backpack, ran into the bathroom, and locked himself in one of the stalls. There, he began to cry. He cried, trying as hard as he could to ignore the chuckles ringing in his head. He didn't really care what the spirit thought of him as tears wetted his face.

If only he could talk to Yugi. Then everything would be okay. But that wasn't going to happen. Nothing will ever be okay. Nothing will ever be fine again.

_**Help, you know I've got to tell someone**_

_**Tell them what I know you've done**_

A tune was then suddenly heard in Ryou's head. First a humming, then the words.

"You fear me. But there is so much more that you fear."

Ryou choked back a sob at those words.

It was true. There was a lot of things in this world that he feared, things that he wished never existed. But this spirit, this voice, was what he feared the most. And it was something which he was going to be stuck with for the rest of his life.

_**I fear you**_

_**But spoken fears can come true**_

Not bothering to wipe away his river of tears on his face, Ryou reached down his shirt and pulled something out. It was the millenium ring.

_**We all live**_

_**We all die **_

_**That does not begin to justify you **_

The age of six. The age where you're just starting to learn about the world around you, and some of the people in it. The age where your curiosity about every little detail around you starts to kick in. The age where you know nothing about all the war, fighting, and killing in your neighborhood; nothing about how much blood gets spilled down the roads and sewers each day.

This was the age that the millenium ring had arrived in young, innocent, Ryou Bakura's mailbox. This was the age where the abosolute truth about everything around him was reveiled to him; the age where the last drop of Ryou's sweet, inspiring innocence was drained from him.

The ring was supposed to be a late birthday present. The week, before and after, Ryou's father had been one another one of his digs at the other side of the earth in Egypt. Ryou's sister, Amane Bakura, had been taking care of Ryou during the time. Ryou was so full of joy and happiness when Amane had opened the package containing the millenium ring. It was so beautiful and shiny. He couldn't believe that his father had actually sent this all the way from Egypt! He loved it!

"One day," he said, hugging the ring, "you and me are going to go to Egypt with Daddy. And I'm going to dig up something from the sand just as shiny as this. And I'm going to give one to Daddy, and one to you, Amane."

Amane laughed and hugged him tightly in her arms.

"Yeah. Yeah, mabye you will, squirt." she kissed him on the cheek, "I promise you, Ryou. You, me, and Dad will go to Egypt together. One big happy family."

"Yeah." Ryou replied with a wide grin.

The next mourning, Ryou had tied a long, thick string of leather he had found in his closet to the hole ontop the millenium ring. He had proudly worn it to his kindergarten class.

Ryou thought that it was going to be a normal, fun day for him. He thought it was going to be another good day; a day to show off his new ring.

He thought wrong.

It was only the calm before the storm.

_**I Must Be Dreaming** by Evanescence_

_How can I pretend that I don't see _

_What you hide so carelessly_

_I saw her bleed_

_You heard me breathe_

_So I froze inside myself_

_And turned away_

_I must be dreaming_

_We all live_

_We all die_

_That does not begin to justify you_

_It's not what it seems_

_Not what you think _

_No, I must be dreaming_

_It's only in my mind_

_Not in real life_

_No, I must be dreaming_

_Help, you know I've got to tell someone_

_Tell them what I know you've done_

_I fear you_

_But spoken fears can come true_

_We all live_

_We all die_

_That does not begin to justify you_

_It's not what it seems_

_Not what you think_

_No, I must be dreaming_

_It's only in my mind_

_Not in real life_

_No, I must be dreaming_

uhhhh...so, uh...what do you think? Is it too long for you readers? Yes, no, baby toe?

There will be a second chapter coming up soon. It probably won't be as long as this, but it goes on from where you left off here.

So please do what almost everyone else wants on this site...Review, please!


	2. The Voice

Okay, soooooo, here we go again. I don't know if anyone out there liked my first chapter, but I'm gonna put the second one up anyway. And here it is:D

But first thing's first:

I DO NOT own Yu – Gi – Oh or any of its characters. Though, there are times where I wish I did. That way there'd be A LOT of Ryou and Bakura and Marik, Malik and yeah. I'm not gonna repeat myself from my first chapter.

And speaking of my first chapter…… I don't own the song 'I Must be Dreaming' by Evanescence. A Goddess named Amy Lee and her band of musicians owns it. I'm saying this just in case, 'cause I'm not exactly sure if I'm supposed to, but just to be safe. I don't own it.

Innocent Until Proven Guilty 

_He grabbed the millennium ring from around his neck, which he couldn't remember putting it on before going to bed, and threw it across the room as hard as he could, just as he had done his pillow. It hit against the mirror hanging against his wall near his door, smashing it to pieces._

_A sudden dizziness began screwing around with Ryou's head at the sight of all the broken glass. Of it all falling against the ground. But this dizziness wasn't an ordinary dizziness. It was more like a flashback._

_Amane's head getting smashed against the bathroom mirror._

……………………………………………..

_Amane laughed and hugged him tightly in her arms._

"_Yeah. Yeah, maybe you will, squirt." she kissed him on the cheek, "I promise you, Ryou. You, me, and Dad will go to Egypt together. One big happy family."_

"_Yeah." Ryou replied with a wide grin._

_The next mourning, Ryou had tied a long, thick string of leather he had found in his closet to the hole ontop the millennium ring. He had proudly worn it to his kindergarten class._

_Ryou thought that it was going to be a normal, fun day for him. He thought it was going to be another good day; a day to show off his new ring._

_He thought wrong._

_It was only the calm before the storm._

A small boy with white hair and wide sparkling brown eyes, dressed in blue jeans and a long green ninja-turtles T-shirt, and had a 'Fairly Odd-parents' lunchbox, quickly hugged his sister before running off towards the playground by his school. There was still time to play around for a few minutes before he had to go inside with the rest of his classmates.

The brand new Millennium Ring was shining with the reflection of the warm sunlight.

"Hey Curtis! Jeff!" Ryou called out to his two friends that were one year older than him.

Two young boys on the jungle-gym turned their heads to the direction of the voice who had just called them. Both of them smiled and called him over, but Ryou didn't see the look that they gave each other before doing it. A look of disappointment and disgust.

Both boys looked like they were raised in a non-wealthy family.

Curtis was a really thin boy with short black hair and light brown eyes. His clothes consisted of baggy black pants, a long, a really long, plain black T-shirt, and red shoes.

Jeff was a bit of a plump boy with a faded looking blue jeans, a yellow Spongebob Squarepants T-shirt, and red and white shoes. He had short light- brown hair and blue eyes.

"Hey, Ryou!" Jeff called back to their 'buddy', "Good morning!"

Ryou caught up to the jungle-gym and climbed up, with his lunchbox on the ground beside the jungle-gym, until he was basically in front of the two older boys.

"Happy Birthday." Curtis said with a fake happiness, though Ryou couldn't see it. "Sorry we couldn't make it for your birthday party yesterday. I bet there was a lot of other kids there though, right? With lots of presents? Just for you and nobody else?"

With sadness showing on his face, Ryou shook his head slowly with his eyes lowered.

"That's okay that you guys couldn't make it. You guys had to be getting some food for your parents." The two boys smiled, "And no. No other kids came. There was only me and my sister."

The boys let out a small chuckle at this. Ryou was such an idiot to them.

Ryou heard the small laughter and before he could look up at them in confusion, the boys stopped. Ryou frowned but made himself forget about it.

These two were his friends. His best friends. His only friends. They wouldn't laugh at him. At least, he didn't think so.

His mind then became pressed on different matters and he looked his millennium ring. Excitement and happiness filled him up once again.

"Look what I got for my birthday, you guys." Ryou held up his gift to show his friends, "My daddy sent it to me from Egypt. It's really awesome!"

At first, Jeff and Curtis were expecting something cool, like Pokemon cards or some kind of other neat toy that had just come out in stores. But instead, what they saw was a circle with, what looked like, sharp spikes hanging off from around it, and a triangle was in the middle of the circle with a weird, and somewhat creepy, looking eye in the middle of it. Anyone can tell that it was made from solid gold. Anyone but the kids at school. They didn't even know what gold was.

This wasn't something they were expecting.

Staring at it, both boys lifted an eyebrow.

"Kinda' weird looking, if you ask me." Curtis replied.

Feeling a little hurt at that comment, Ryou shook his head at them.

"But it's not. I think it's really cool. It's from Egypt. None of us has ever been to Egypt. Have you guys ever been to Egypt?"

Beginning to feel angry at the question, Jeff spoke up. How dare he ask such a question to them.

"You can think it's cool if you want. But it's really _not_, Ryou. It looks really stupid. Why would you think it's cool? And what kind of kid would want that _thing_ for their birthday? A really stupid kid, that's what. And we don't hang around with stupid kids. Are you stupid, Ryou?"

Speechless, and feeling even more hurt, Ryou shook his head.

"Well then, don't wear that….that….whatever that disgusting thing is, and then you won't look so stupid. We don't like it."

Feeling a slight stinging in his eyes, Ryou could think of only one thing to say.

"But I like. My daddy gave it to me. And I barely get to see my daddy."

"Well, if you barely see you daddy then he won't know that you're not wearing it. And whenever you do see him just say that the disgusting thing hurts your neck. And then maybe he will take it back where he got it from."

Ryou blinked.

Before he can say anything else, the school bell rang.

Groaning, the two boys jumped off the jungle-gym and landed on the ground, leaving Ryou sitting there.

"Take the disgusting thing off, Ryou, or we're not gonna talk to you anymore." Curtis told him before both boys ran off for their doors to get into the school.

Wiping away a small tear and sniffling a couple times, Ryou sat there, speechless.

"It's a millennium ring." He said to himself, but wanting to tell Jeff and Curtis.

He then hopped off the jungle-gym, picked up his lunchbox, and ran for his own door.

Keeping his head down to avoid any eye contact with anyone, Ryou walked into his classroom, put his lunchbox on his assigned shelf, and sat down at his own little desk beside the window. He sat there, quietly, with his hands laid out in front of him on his desk.

He was having trouble getting over the words that had been said to him by his two friends. How can they say that to him? They both knew how much he misses his daddy whenever he went away on his digs. And they both knew that everything that his daddy sends to him from where he works is important to him.

Ryou gritted his teeth in frustration.

Jeff and Curtis were his friends! How could they say this stuff to him? Why would they say this stuff to him?

(Because they're not your friends.)

A sharp intake of air became lodged into Ryou's throat. He began to cough. Repeatedly he coughed, holding his hand in front of his lips like his father had told him to do when coughing or sneezing, trying to breathe in the oxygen that his body was beginning to lack more and more as he continued coughing.

His teacher, Mrs. Moore, noticed this. She quickly went and leaned down next to his desk, lay a hand on his back in comfort, and looked at him in concern.

"Ryou, what's the matter?" she asked.

"Can't _cough_ catch my _cough_ breath! _cough_"

"Did you swallow anything, Ryou?" Mrs. Moore frowned.

Ryou shook his head, only able to take tiny amounts of air inbetween coughs.

Mrs. Moore began patting his back lightly, not too hard.

"Ryou, you have to try to stop coughing. Try to stop coughing and breathe. It's okay if you cough even more after that but you got to try and stop."

Ryou tried as best as he could to follow Mrs. Moore's instructions. Though he found it rather difficult he managed to stop coughing for more than a couple of seconds and he took in a deep breath of the much needed oxygen. The air made it easier for him to cease the coughing and now, Ryou was panting softly. His throat felt dry, and raspy.

"May I go get a drink of water, Mrs. Moore?" he asked, his voice proving how dry his throat felt.

"Yes, you may. But don't take too long. We're going to start soon, okay?"

Ryou quickly nodded before getting up and walking over to the nearest water fountain in the hallway.

Once he got there, he bent down a little bit and took the water into his mouth, enjoying the cool feeling of water sliding down his throat, making him feel better. When he was done he stood up and began walking back to his classroom. On his way back he passed Jeff and Curtis's classroom. He stopped to look inside the room and saw them talking to each other, one of them smiling. Ryou wanted to hear, he wanted to know, what they were talking about, but he couldn't just go in there and listen.

With a sad and pouted look on his face, Ryou just continued walking back to his classroom.

It was then when he remembered why he suddenly had a coughing fit. He remembered why he suddenly had taken in too much air for his little lungs at once.

He had heard a voice in his head. A deep, penetrating, commanding, smooth voice. But it also had seemed to be calm, soft, and somewhat soothing. But was it really in his head? Or was it just another kid somewhere in the classroom talking to his friend? Surely it couldn't have been in his head. The only things he could ever hear in his head were his own thoughts. And Ryou knew for a fact that he had not thought up the words that he heard.

What were the words again? 'Because they're not your friends'? Yeah, that's it. He was thinking of Jeff and Curtis before he heard those words. About how and why his two friends could've said what they said to Ryou before the bell rang……..

Ryou nearly fell over. The connection was too close. Too deep. It was like someone had responded to his very thoughts. But how was that possible? Ryou knew for a fact that it was impossible for a person to read minds. It had to have been another kid talking to a friend. Or just his imagination. Yeah, that's it. Only his imagination.

The meaning of the words, however, and what they were responded to, seemed to cram themselves in the back of his mind.

He quietly walked to his classroom and sat down, before Mrs. Moore began reading another chapter of a book called 'Pinocchio'.

It was lunch-time and the bell rang, making it okay for all the hungry children in the school to grab their lunches and eat. This caused Ryou to become full of excitement. He even forgot all about the Jeff and Curtis incident, and the 'voice-inside-his-head' incident. The only thing that mattered to him at the moment was his sister's grilled cheese sandwich.

Ryou grabbed his lunchbox and went, sat down on the table nearest to the window, and began eating his awaited sandwich.

Alone.

Ryou always sat alone at the one table nearest to the window. He didn't really know why but he liked looking out the window. He liked looking outside, at his surroundings. He liked looking up at the sky, watching the birds fly, watching other people, young or old, walking by. He liked watching everything. Maybe he just liked the way human nature worked on the outside. Mabye he liked the sight of open spaces, the sight of freedom, the sight of other beings' freedom. Ryou didn't know. He just liked watching everything move around him.

To him, the human nature was beautiful. The way humans worked, the way humans operated on a daily basis. How busy, friendly, wonderful, affectionate, how peaceful people were. Especially to him. Ryou knew that, one day, he was going to have to be just as kind, friendly, and busy as everyone else around him. And with a whole life of school waiting for him, Ryou would become prepared.

(You're wrong.)

He didn't know how or why but Ryou began to choke on a bite of his sandwich while it was on its way down. He managed to avoid another coughing fit, and after only a couple of coughs a soggy object made its way back into his mouth. Not knowing what else to do with it, Ryou quickly swallowed it back down, successful at making it all the way down this time.

It was that voice again! That same voice that he heard earlier.

This was no coincidence. It couldn't have been his imagination this time. And there was no way it could've been one of the other kids in the room. This was the exact same voice he had heard earlier, and now he knew for a fact that it wasn't one of the kids, because none of the other kids had such a voice. A deep, mature voice. Only this time, the voice had some kind of bitterness to it, a slight hint of sharpness.

But Ryou was smart. He knew that there had to be some kind of logic to this voice. So if it wasn't one of the other kids, than it had to be his imagination. There just _had_ to be. What else could it be?

But it was then Ryou took into account a certain connection. Just like last time, the connection to his thoughts and the 'voice' he had heard had been close.

But wait? Was it really that close?

He had been wondering to himself about why he liked looking outside the window all the time. Just like almost any other day, he had come to the conclusion that he liked the way human nature worked. And then he gave himself his own thoughts about what he thought about human nature.

And then, the voice was heard.

'You're wrong.'

Ryou frowned.

Wrong? What was so wrong about human nature? He knew that human nature was perfect. Unless 'the voice' was talking about his own thoughts of human nature. But what was wrong about that, too?

Ryou held his breath when he finally figured out the connection.

It was like earlier before his teacher began reading her book to the class. Either it was in his own mind or not, someone or something had responded to his thoughts.

But then Ryou was left with the question, 'What was so wrong about his own thoughts on human nature'? Every moment he got the chance to, he always looked around him, mainly outside, and observed everything little thing he could. The birds, the insects, the animals, the sky, the clouds, even the people. And everything about it was just beautiful to him. With the experience of everything he has seen so far, how could he be wrong thinking that way?

A chuckle rang in his head.

(Kid, you've seen nothing yet.)

Ryou gave out a short cry of surprise and abruptly, he stood up on his feet, knocking the chair to the floor behind him. Everybody in the room was silenced.

What was going on? What was this voice? Why was he hearing it? There was no way it was his imagination! And not only did he hear a voice, he heard a laugh. Or something similar to a laugh.

He suddenly started to feel light-headed; his hands became cold, as everything in the room began to spin. Slowly at first and then it got faster. A queasy feeling had settled itself in his stomach. He wanted to throw up. The room started to spin so fast that he couldn't stay on his feet any longer, and he felt his entire arm, side, and head contact with the floor.

The last thing he saw before darkness covered up his vision was feet coming up alongside beside him. He could've sworn that he heard someone call out his name.

_**TBC**_

Sooooooo……what do you people think? Good? Bad? Okay? Not okay? Do you want more?

I was actually only planning on making one more chapter on Ryou's life from where I left off at the ending of my first chapter, to when Ryou was crying in the school bathroom. But as I was starting this chapter I was like, 'Hey! I know! I'll go into actual detail in this story!' And well, here you and me are.

Please review, plz :D Just tell me if it's good or bad. I want to know if people are actually reading this fic. Please?

Thank you **Masami, Mistress of Fire** and **totalanimefan12** for reviewing my fist chapter Much appreciated.


	3. A Promise

A/N: _Well, now for number three. I really have no idea if many people are reading this_

_thing, because I barely got any reviews. The lack of reviews is actually the reason _

_why I haven't been working on this chapter. It is now the middle of August, I must_

_of started this chapter a few months ago, but I got discouraged 'cause I haven't_

_been getting much reviews. I love it when people say good things about the work_

_I've done, and it encourages me to continue. So please, readers, review my stuff,_

'_cause it gives me confidence. Thank you for reading, if you did._

**Disclaimer:** **I don't own Yu – Gi – Oh, or any of it's characters. But I do own my**

**very own characters.**

**_A Promise_**

Ryou took a deep breath, relieved that he was finally able to go home with his sister, who was accompanying him at the time.

He was feeling a bit nauseous still; his head was hurting and his mind and body was feeling tired. Once he had told the school nurse about his symptoms, she had suggested Amane coming to pick him up and take him home. Ryou agreed, and so did Amane the principle had phoned her.

To be honest, he didn't really care if he was going home or not. He just wanted to get away from the school. Away from the nurse's office, away from the principle, his teacher, the students, away from everybody and everything else involving the school. After his most embarrassing scene back in the classroom/lunchroom, what kind of kid wouldn't want to? He had, nearly, screamed in front of every kid in his class and, worst of all, he had fainted while everybody's attention was completely towards him. **Fainted! **In front of _every _kid in his class! How could he? Would they laugh at him tomorrow when he came to school? Would they ask him about it? Would they care? Surely they would care. Even if it was only by a little bit. Hopefully they would.

Beginning to dread going back to school the next day, which he knew he was going to have to do, he looked out the window on his side of the car. Right now, he and his sister were about halfway to the house. He knew this by seeing all the restaurants and parking lots. All the restaurants marked 'the halfway spot', dubbed by the one and only Ryou Bakura.

Ryou didn't live too far away from his school, but far enough to require a ride there in the mornings in order to get there on time. His sister, Amane, had gotten her car before he was in kindergarten, and so she had always given Ryou a ride to school every single morning.

"As long as you pay me back all the gas I used to give you rides when you get yourself a job. And as long as you give me rides with your car when my car is in repair or something." Amane had told him.

Ryou grinned and gave her a shake of his head.

"It's a deal." A pouted look then came across his face and a bit of a frown, "But do I really have to get a job when I'm older? Why can't I just go to downtown and beg for money?"

Amane just looked at him with a frown as well, take aback.

"What? Beg? Ryou, why on earth would you want to do that?"

Ryou's pout turned into confusion.

"Because it's easier than getting a job. All you gotta do is find your way over to downtown somehow, find a place to sit, put out your palm, and ask people for money as they walk by. A lot of other people have lots of money that they would give up for a homeless person."

There were emotions on Amane's face which were hard for young Ryou to read. But from what he knew, he could tell that she was completely struck with surprise, shock, confusion, and he even noticed a hint of anger. Or what seemed like anger. He knew then that he had said something terribly wrong.

He waited for Amane to speak first, not really knowing what to say himself.

"Ryou, that is the most absurd, foolish nonsense I have ever heard come out of you. Where did you hear such things?"

Ryou put his head down, his chin almost touching his chest.

"Jeff and Curtis told me about that. They said that they do it all the time and that they get lots of money for doing it. They said it's just like a job. They also said tha – "

"Well, what those boys said to you is wrong, Ryou. It's just plain wrong!" Amane exclaimed, "Pretending to be a homeless boy when you're not and going out to beg other people for their money is not a way to make money. It's certainly not better than a job, either. I need you to understand that."

Ryou nodded his head, feeling tears well up in his eyes. Amane noticed this and rubbed his back in comfort.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you, Ryou. But you've got to stop listening to what those boys tell you. They won't do you any good. Try to not hang around with them anymore, okay?"

Ryou looked up at her and a tear rolled down his cheek. He nodded again and quickly wiped the tear away.

Ryou, the present Ryou, shook his head from his thoughts. He always had moments where he would get lost in his memories, and this was one of them. Did that happen to other people as well? Them getting lost in their own memories?

Amane came across a red light and stopped. Just like her, all traffic around them stopped. A red convertible slowly came to a stop beside them. This prevented Ryou from looking straight ahead out of the window, so instead, he looked up toward the blue, cloudless sky.

Now, it was daytime, and even young Ryou knew that you couldn't see any kind of reflection in glass during the day, unless there was a bright light on behind or beside you. Or, of course, if it was daytime and you were inside somewhere. But these facts didn't apply for Ryou. He, and Amane, were out in the middle of the road. And what he saw was a reflection.

He had a number of reactions.

At first he blinked in confusion. How could he be able to see a reflection at where he was?

He looked at it a little closer when he saw that there was something wrong with this reflection.

He saw that his hair wasn't the same. It seemed to be a little more…messier than usual. A little more big and wild. Did his hair get messy when he fell on the floor earlier?

Then he saw the eyes. He didn't really look at his eyes much, but he knew for a fact that his eyes weren't _that_ dark. They couldn't be. Could they?

He became taken aback when he saw that the reflection moved. The lips on "his own" reflection moved to shape some kind of a smile. Ryou knew that it wasn't a smile, because there was something about it that gave him shivers down his spine. He shivered. But not until he noticed that he wasn't "smiling". He moved the muscles around and relaxed them again to make sure of that. But how was that possible? He wasn't smiling, so how was his reflection smiling?

He saw sharp teeth in the reflection's mouth, one sharp tooth on each side in the top front row. Ryou saw those before. Were those……fangs? Ryou quickly checked his teeth to make sure that none of his teeth felt sharp. His teeth were normal.

Ryou froze before slowly moving his head back up to face the "reflection". Was this his reflection? This couldn't of been a person standing outside the car, obviously, because the car was in the middle of a busy street. But then…..who, or what, was it that Ryou was looking at?

(Hello, Ryou) the smiling lips moved to form words. It was weird, because Ryou was only able to hear these words in his head. (It looks like you're my new host. Welcome and congratulations. My name is Bakura.)

Ryou couldn't take it anymore! He didn't know who or what this person was, and he definitely didn't know what this "person" was talking about. He knew for a fact that this wasn't his reflection and he knew that nobody was standing outside the car. Amane would've heard the words too.

Ryou didn't know what else to do, but scream.

…………………………………………………………………..

"Ryou! Ryou, calm down! You've got to calm down now!"

Those words were the only ones he could hear, along with someone's screaming, as Ryou bolted upwards. He stopped screaming once he realized it was coming from him. He quickly looked around to check his surroundings, making sure that he couldn't see any kind of reflection, be it a mirror or a window. He relaxed once he saw that he was in the nurse's office. He flopped himself back down onto the bed he was on with his eyes closed. The words he had heard were coming from the school nurse.

"Ryou, are you still awake? Stay with me."

Ryou swallowed, but it felt like he had swallowed a fuzzy ball. He nodded in response to the nurse. He kept his eyes closed.

"Ryou, can you tell me how you're feeling right now? Do you feel tired, does your head hurt…"

"I feel a bit tired and my arm hurts." He suddenly felt like something was eating the insides of his stomach, "I also feel a little hungry." He was able to hear a pencil on paper, so it must've been the nurse writing down his symptoms.

"Is that it? You don't feel dizzy, or you don't feel like you're going to throw up?"

Ryou shook his head. A moment of silence.

"Allright, Ryou," the nurse started, "I just want you to know that it's 1:30 in the afternoon right now and you passed out at around twelve noon, so you've been unconscious for about an hour and a half." Ryou didn't say anything, "While you were asleep you had a fever, and you have a bruise on your left arm from when you fell to the floor. That explains the pain you feel in your arm."

It was then Ryou opened his eyes to lift up the short sleeve to see a purple blotch near his shoulder. He winced slightly before releasing his sleeve. He had never had many bruises before, but he did have a few during some times in his short life. This had to have been the biggest one ever.

"Mr. Wood, the principle, called your sister about half an hour ago, and she's going to be here as soon as she can. She might be another few minutes, still. She got mixed up with work." Ryou, now distracted from the bruise, smiled in relief, knowing that he's going to see Amane soon, "In the meantime, I think you should have some lunch. You must be starving."

Ryou nodded, still smiling. The nurse chuckled at the innocence returning to his face.

"I'll be right back, Ryou, I'll bring you a lunch. It's best if you eat in here and not in the lunch room, allright? Lunch time is over for everybody else." Ryou nodded again in response.

With everything explained, said, and done, the nurse got up from her stool and walked out of the room. She left the door a couple inches open.

Silence now filled the room. The only thing that could be heard was the clicking of the clock on the upper wall above the nurse's desk, and muffled noises of the talking and scuffling of kids in their classrooms.

Ryou was now sitting at the edge of the bed with his legs hanging over.

This was his first time actually being in the nurse's office for getting sick somehow, so he got a good look around the place. There was the clock, obviously; the nurse's desk that had a folder (Ryou's file), a pen, a box holding rubber gloves, and some jars that contained cotton balls, cotton pads and Q-tips. There was a stool, the one that the nurse was sitting on earlier, in front of it, and a small garbage can beside it.

The walls in the room were a creamy white, and on the wall across from the bed Ryou was sitting on was a sink and some paper towels. Above the bed there were the devices used to check one's ears and throat, to check one's blood pressure, and all the other things someone would find in a nurse's office. The door that the nurse walked out of was at the foot of the bed.

There were no mirrors, Ryou noticed.

'Wait a second,' thought Ryou, 'Why am I here again?' A couple seconds, 'Oh, right. I fainted. But…_why_ did I faint?'

(Ryou.)

Ryou jumped in surprise so hard and fast that he nearly slid off the edge of the bed.

The voice. The voice! It was back! The reason why he fainted was because he was hearing this voice and it wouldn't go away!

Ryou clapped his hands over his ears.

"No…" he mumbled, breathing heavy, "I don't want to hear. Go away…"

(Ryou, don't be frightened. I'm not here to harm you.)

Blinking, Ryou slowly took his hands off his ears, looking into nowhere. His hands eventually landed back on his lap. He didn't really know what to feel or do.

"R-Really?" he asked finally, outloud.

(Yes, Ryou. Believe me. You fainted earlier because you were hearing me, and you got scared. There is no reason to be scared of me.) A moment passed. (I'm you're true friend. I want to be your true friend. Don't be scared of me.)

Ryou could feel his heart beating faster. His breathing quickened slightly.

His friend? This voice was…his friend? It actually _wanted_ to be his friend?

He didn't have very many friends. And there were times when he would find himself feeling very lonely, especially when both his sister and father were gone and he was left with a baby-sitter. He didn't really like having to stay with a baby-sitter.

(It's okay, Ryou. With me around, you won't have to feel lonely anymore. I'm going to be with you always. We'll be best friends forever.)

"Really?" he asked once again.

(Yes, Ryou. Forever.)

Ryou slowly began to smile. This was unbelievable. He had a best friend! And they were going to be best friends forever!

(But you can't tell anybody, Ryou. You can't tell anybody that we're best friends. Nobody likes me, and if they knew that you are my friend then they won't like you either.)

"What? Why doesn't anybody like you?" Ryou asked, frowning.

(I don't know why. They all think that I'm a bad person. But I'm not, Ryou. I'm a very good person. And I'm also a very good friend.) Ryou smiled again. (Please, Ryou. Please promise me that you won't tell anybody about me. They will hate you too if you do. I don't want people to hate you because of me.)

"What about my sister Amane? I always tell her everything. Even if I tell her about you, she won't hate me. I don't even think she would hate _you_."

There were a few moments of silence before the voice spoke again.

(Don't tell her about me yet. We shall her about me sometime in the future. But not now. Promise me that you won't tell anybody about me.)

Immediately, Ryou nodded.

"I promise."

_**TBC**_

R/R please.


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